I’ve longed admired professional development opportunities in the world of business and industry - the vast for-profit sector that fuels our nation’s economic growth. Companies like Blair Singer and Fearless Transformation provide coaching and training for businesses on a global scale. Now it’s time for the nonprofit community – a rapidly-growing network of organizations – to benefit from the tools already in play in the for-profit sector. Kal Jurdi brings this resource to fundraisers in Arizona. Kal combines professional coaching experience with his personal work with charities in the US and abroad. This is a rare combination that’s well worth tapping. In a competitive marketplace, successful fundraisers seek the sharpest possible tools.
I was nearly in tears a few times when I watched how well Kal stepped into that position yesterday. You have NO IDEA how proud I was (and am) to see how magnificently Kal worked the room and taught the material. The transition from a few years ago has been immense. His mastery of his material, facilitation technique, managing the energy of the room, dealing with push-back and precisely applying some very powerful techniques perfectly was magical. Yesterday Kal said that training on the same stage with me was a dream of his. Watching him do his thing yesterday was the fruition of a dream for me. To see, after these many years of building my business, team and mission, one of my students become a star in his own arena, with his own passion and reasons why. I can honestly say that I felt such a sense of joy and pride, not from what I presented, but from what Kal delivered from the guidance and inspiration of Dr Willard White and the context provided by Marts and Lundy. I am proud to have a hand in it. I look forward to working even harder to help build momentum with it. So……congratulations to Dr Willard White for the amazing vision to see the need and to guide us on this path. Congratulations to Kal for stepping onto “his” stage in a world class fashion. Congratulations to BSTA for providing the context and training to creating stars like Kal Jurdi. Congratulations to all of us for giving our time and resources to something that plays forward to millions we may never meet.
Almost all the participants in the AFP/BSTA workshop gave very favorable reviews of the content and the quality of the presentation. As chapter president of the association, I was very pleased with the response from our members. We had excellent attendance and very positive feedback from our members for this session. Many members raved about the actions they could put into place right away. Based upon the specific instruction and tools they received, our members left with clear action plans, in addition to the positive inspiration of Kal’s personal story. His interest and passion for the NGO/nonprofit community was evident, and it was clear that his presentation was based in personal experience of working with donors and NGOs on the ground. Kal is a dynamic and effective speaker, who can move the audience both through their hearts and their minds.
